First Space Tourist Sets Sights on Mars

A group headed by multimillionaire Dennis Tito, who in 2001 became the first space tourist, on Wednesday outlined plans for a private manned mission to circle Mars.

Mr. Tito, who set a target launch date for January 2018, said a husband and wife astronaut team that hasn't yet been selected would fly within 100 miles of Mars before swinging back toward earth in a slingshot type of maneuver for the return trip. But backers of the proposed expedition haven't designated a specific rocket or capsule for what would be a dangerous and pioneering mission, nor do they have financing lined up for what some industry officials project could be a price tag of $1 billion or more.

"When nations boldly follow opportunities, rooted in curiosity and guided by technological innovation, they grow, prosper, learn and lead. And this is what makes a nation great," Mr. Tito said. His trip to the international space station is considered the first example of space tourism.

Calling it "A Mission For America," Mr. Tito, said the expedition intends to choose between proven, existing space transportation systems developed by corporate and government entities, though he wasn't specific. One of the innovative aspects of the plan, which also is timed to take advantage of what is projected to be a period of unusually low solar radiation, calls for attaching an inflatable section to the capsule and then releasing it before re-entry.

Dennis Tito, the first space tourist, has his sights set on a trip to Mars. WSJ's Andy Pasztor outlines the mission and the challenges. Photo: Getty Images.

ENLARGE

Dennis Tito, above in Kazakhstan in 2001 after returning from space, is planning to organize a 501-day mission to Mars and back.
Associated Press

He initially conceived the Mars mission as a roughly $500 million partnership with closely held Space Exploration Technologies Corp., of Hawthorne, Calif., said people familiar with the matter.

Mr. Tito co-wrote a detailed technical paper on the subject with 10 corporate and NASA space experts. He may be willing to invest as much as $100 million of his personal fortune, the industry officials said. The group, called the Inspiration Mars Foundation, hopes to raise funds to finance the mission.

With no U.S. government missions slated to carry astronauts past low-earth orbit until at least the start of the next decade, Mr. Tito and his supporters saw the about 17 month expedition as an opportunity to inspire students and showcase U.S. supremacy in space.

The 501-day round-trip flight would pioneer technology to shield humans from strong radiation in deep space; demonstrate they could live and exercise for long durations in cramped quarters; and leapfrog plans by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to send astronauts to an asteroid and eventually to Mars around 2035.

The longest any human has stayed in space so far is about 13 months, held by a Russian cosmonaut. The proposed trip would be aided by a trajectory devised by Mr. Tito and his team—based on earlier NASA calculations—that gives the craft extra speed from gravitational forces created by the unusual alignment of the planets.

Industry officials said in recent weeks plans to use a heavy-lift rocket and space capsule supplied by SpaceX, imploded.

A spokeswoman for SpaceX said the company doesn't have a relationship with Mr. Tito's group.

The group's latest concept carries a price tag of at least $1 billion, these officials said. Mr. Tito's group is talking to Boeing Co., Lockheed Martin Corp. and NASA about possible hardware.

The proposed voyage comes as NASA and the White House face escalating criticism from lawmakers and scientists over what they see as a lack of clearly defined government space goals. NASA hasn't yet picked a specific asteroid for a manned mission, and the agency's plans to get astronauts to Mars are less defined.

With shrinking overall budgets and internal NASA divisions about how much financial support to allocate for commercial space ventures, the agency is looking for ways to spark public excitement about deep-space travel.

Mr. Tito's concept has been embraced by NASA's leadership, and the proposed Mars voyage is boosted by a formal cooperative agreement with NASA's Ames Research Center in Northern California. Ames scientists are renowned for expertise in heat shields, which is one of the most important elements needed to protect a speeding spacecraft slamming into the earth's atmosphere at the end of a long-distance space voyage.

Some space experts have said that any manned Mars mission using existing rockets probably would need to have a capsule dock with some type of booster in orbit. That would provide the additional thrust necessary to put the spacecraft into a trajectory to reach Mars. The gravitational field around Mars would have a slingshot effect on a spacecraft, hurling it back toward earth with additional velocity.

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